Ding Jiayu dreams of being a photographer. Her idol is none other than Yung Jo. When Yung Jo's photography company holds an audition to find a new photographer, Jiayu decides to take a chance. The thing is, Yung Jo's company doesn't hire women, so Jiayu has no choice but to dress up as man and enter. Yung Jo takes great interest in Jiayu's talent and makes her his apprentice. It may seem like a dream to work with your idol, but for Jiayu, it's nothing of the sort. She takes a beating from Yung Jo everyday, and since all the crew members think she is a guy...

I honestly do not know what to say for this review. To summarize this manga in one word I would say it is MESSY. It is funny because I was hooked by the first volume, however, the series did not live up to its original design which is why I'm giving this a low score. I was hoping this manga would be more about Jiayu fulfilling her dream as a professional photographer and surpassing Jo like she originally wanted to in the start . However that never happened, making this a huge disappointment. In fact, the manga took unexpected wide turns every now and then. Just like the artwork, the story constantly shifted in certain volumes, and I had a hard time being engaged to the story for this reason. Characters were introduced, but never fulfilled anything of proper significance. Majority of the characters lacked development or any sort of characterization that was interesting. I found them, however, very annoying and boring. Especially that Aiwen guy and Jiayu. Jo was far more interesting even though he sucked major time. Despite his flaws, he had some elements of mystery, only because he had some sort of background to himself. Anyways, the mangaka should of condensed things to three volumes instead of dragging it out with unnecessary drama, that way, the series would be more enjoyable and entertaining, rather than a tiresome read. That said it is still readable if you are incredibly bored.

What a good manhua to kill time. I quite enjoyed it although I have to admit that the never-ending drama between the two main characters pissed me off so much that I ended up skipping to a lot of chapters.

Jiayu is a very likeable heroine -- cute, hardworking, ambitious, cheerful, understanding and highly energetic. She's probably one of the biggest redeeming traits on this manhua. The only thing I don't like is how the author keeps on putting her on sticky/dangerous situations all the freaking time. Like geez, I can't count how many times she gets minor accidents, gets lost, slips down, falls out of a high place and then Yung Jo or any other guy will hurry rescue her and not leave her unattended (I mean, when will she ever learn? Is she little kid or what? ughughugh). That aside, it's awesome how reasonable she is when it comes to love and relationships. I really like how she handled her budding romance with Yung Jo and the way she rejected Aiwen (but still managed to maintain her friendship with him).

And then there's Yung Jo. For a mature but messed up guy like him who has so many issues, I expect some big character development from him (since our little heroine is very capable in changing him) but that change in him wasn't a huge leap. He remains cold, distant, abusive and seems to have a bunch of creepy girls from his past that keeps on haunting him (especially the Kate arc which I find really uneccessary and inconsistent with the storyline). I do love the fact that he's very aggressive and honest when it comes to expressing his feelings for Jiayu. Really, I've read a bunch of older male/younger girl combinations in manga where the guy has to act the respectful I-won't-touch-her-cause-she's-too-young-for-me cliche which really annoyed me. Yung Jo is the first hero who didn't follow that trend for me.

So overall, it's still quite a refreshing read. It made me see photography in a new light and the places/sceneries that were referenced here are brilliant.

This is my fav manhua ever.It probably beats all the manga too.First of all i know that art at first seems ugly but after a while it gets better and gets beautiful.Story is like so many others yet so different,mostly because of the emotions it makes you feel.I love the characters,they have soul,attitude,flaws..main couple is adorable,that tension and anticipation when they are near each other is just awesome.Development between them goes at slow pace and makes your heart ache from all the sweetness.I could go on and on about this manhua...wish it was so much longer.One of works where i wanted it to never end,made me sad when it finished.This one moved me so much,made me feel all kinds of emotions and it became special for me.

Also to those that didnt like it i have to say that this manhua was written in 1998 and its better than most od todays manga where chars are empty and you cant feel any emotion form it.So those that are thinking wheter to read it or not...give it a try and dont give up after few chapters because after volume 1 this manhua has alot to offer.

look at it or think too hard you'll miss the hilariousness and even loving care that is in this manga. Just read it and don't take too much stock in the age difference. Maybe it didn't affect me as much because hubby is 9 years older than me lol

I truly enjoyed this manga and am reading Steel Rose and looking forward to more! :-D

I read this up to volume 10 a couple of years ago, and I really loved this series. Now I decided to read the whole thing.

This manhua is by no means perfect. The plot features a stupidly high rate of gorgeous people and the setting is pretty stereotypical, though the focus on cameras spices it up a bit. The two main characters have some serious mood-swings and that dad is just too far out to be taken seriously.

I could keep on pointing out flaws in this series, but truth is that I got pretty addicted to it. I read all 15 volumes in two days, needing to know what happens next. The characters don't act completely irrational (even though they make things unnecessarily dramatic) and some of the most puke-inducing shoujo cliches are left out. The female lead isn't completely useless, actually has some talent and pursues something other than love! Even if she's younger than Jo, you don't get the impression that they aren't equals - they just have different personalities and experiences from life.

Nonetheless, yes this is a bit cheesy, and it gets even more so in the second half. But I loved the second half the most. The pace gets faster compared to the rather slow first seven or eight volumes.

I'm glad that this didn't happen:

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

When Jiayu fell from that bridge (or whatever) and ended up in the hospital... If she had gotten amnesia, I would have dropped the series on the spot. Glad that didn't happen.

If you're looking for a long series (and you already read all the very good ones) with a slow romance, much drama and some cheesiness, this is for you. After some volumes you most likely won't complain about the art anymore either. It gets better.I'm more critical than a few years ago, but it's still pretty entertaining if you can overlook the cheesiness.

If you're planning on reading ingenuo because of the genderbender thing, don't. That thing only lasted for, what? one chapter? The plot was okay nonetheless. It started out as quite interesting. However, as the story progress, at some point, you'd want to stop reading because Yung Jo is the such a jerk! I mean seriously! But don't let that fool you. Everything's going to be fine at the end. Yung Jo undergoes a major character development The art was really bad (sorry!) but you'll get used to it.

This manhua probably won't be liked by everyone but as for me, i found it okay (not that great but worth reading). It leaves an impression after you finish reading it. So remember, if you're going to read this, no matter how bad the story gets, stick with it 'til the end! I promise it gets better

Good one this one. They should probably add the tags of possessive lover and jealous lover but all in all, a good read. If you know anymo manga like this one with sucha hot lead, plz lemme know. I'm dyin to read mo!!!

Tbh it just dragged on even at its early stages . I had enough at volume 3 and just thought the story would be going no where based on what I saw and from the reviews I think my instinct were right , it just wasn't my type of manga the girls personality kinda annoyed me I mean one minute she's all nieve then the next a loud month bitch it was just annoying and I felt like the romance would take probably the whoooooole manga right till the end to developed between her boss it just CRAP and not my style I would say don't read this long boring manga with very little story to back up the huge volume numbers . . . I don't think its nessery . .. good luck to the ppl that decide to ignore me which you probably will I quess you just have to see it for your self .

Lovely Manga, i freaking adored it. i was pretty skeptical at first (the cover of a manga is what usually draws me in) but don't let it fool you, that art grows on you & gets better, & it turns out to be a beautiful story~. I definitely recommend it<3!

This series was kind of enthralling for me weirdly enough. I say its weird because the art wasn't exactly my favorite (i.e. I really had second thoughts about reading the manga when I first saw the artwork) and the story was a bit drawn-out for my personal tastes.The reason for my absolute interest and undying devotion: Ding Jiaya (the main female lead). This may be the first time that I've liked and could relate to a female lead. I always find myself irritated with female leads because mangaka often make them unrealistically headstrong or innocent or weak or happy or stubborn or some other character that normal people have in real life just never to the extent that they're endowed with in the manga. Her personality was just so admirable, strong and REALISTIC: naive, bright, playful, but then when something really made her sad, she actually let herself wallow in it for a quite a bit before someone was able to pull her out of it. Ryan (our wonderful mangaka) had to have known someone like her in real life to be able to create a character with such a lasting impression.Something else I loved about our female lead:

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

She was willing to explore her options. Yes, she loved Yung Jo more than anyone else, but she didn't completely shoot down Aiwen when he made his feelings for her known. Of course she wasn't going to end up with him in the end, but she was willing to acknowledge that she liked him and seriously consider her options in a relatively realistic manner. I'm so very tired of lead female manga characters not even considering anyone else when it IS NOT working out with the main guy.

My annoyance with the manga: Yung Jo (the main male lead). Don't get me wrong: I love a headstrong, arrogant male lead in my manga, but sometimes he just went a bit too far for me.

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

As in he just wasn't willing to apologize for anything he did to her and that really pissed me off because Jiaya loved, admired, and understood him too much to really demand one.

Besides my one little annoyance, the manga was GREAT. Of course, it gets slow at times (what manga that lasts for 15 volumes doesn't drag a bit at parts?), but the bit of dragging is the price we pay for a really memorable manga.